


Cell Odyssey

by Philosoferre



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Human Biology, M/M, Multi, Science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 15:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10516416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philosoferre/pseuds/Philosoferre
Summary: Joly frowned, reached his hand to adjust his diopter-And, suddenly, he was in a large, bleak gray room with the rest of Les Amis.-Les Amis get stuck in a cell.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a school project I worked on with my friend, by the way. Sorry I haven't been active lately, I've been watching Supernatural (my sister and I finished four seasons in nineteen days - I don't think that's healthy). :)   
> Anyways, I'm done my Big Thing, so hopefully I'll write more. Enjoy, mes amis!!

"Guys! Guess what I'm working on now!" Joly exclaimed as he entered Cafe Musain.

"Please tell us what you've discovered," Eponine said sarcastically.

Joly pouted. "It's actually important. You guys will like it, I promise."

"Joly," Bossuet said. "The last time you told us we'd like something you were doing, we ended up in quarantine for a month because you thought we had the plague."

"With good reason!" Joly said. "Enjolras was showing symptoms."

"Symptoms of what?" Enjolras asked. He hadn't been paying attention at all.

Combeferre snorted. "Stupidity."

"It might be fun, give Joly a break," Courfeyrac said.

Cosette nodded at him. "Yeah, Joly, tell us. We care. Most of us, anyways." She glared at the rest of Les Amis.

"I'm researching about animal cells and the functions of their organelles," Joly said, excitement evident in his voice.

"Ha," Courfeyrac laughed. "Enj is an organelle."

"That's not an insult?" Joly tilted his head, confused.

"You're an organelle," Enjolras fired back.

Combeferre sighed. "Organelles are tiny organs found in cells. Neither of you is an organelle. You're both idiots."

Courfeyrac frowned. "Rude. You're supposed to not hate on me. I thought you loved me!"

Combeferre sighed. He looked like he was done with everyone, and everything.

"Guys! Aren't you excited for my research?" Joly asked.

"Sorry, but we honestly don't care," Enjolras said, shrugging. "Much."

Well, that was disappointing. Everyone went back to what they had been doing before Joly came - Bossuet and Bahorel went to go bother Musichetta at the bar, and they were so loud, it sounded like most of Les Amis had gone with them, too. Combeferre and Enjolras continued planning their rally for next week, while Courfeyrac tried to get one of them to play finger puppets with him, and Grantaire complained to Eponine about his love life. Joly rested his chin on his hands and sighed. He was doing such important work about organelles. Why couldn't Les Amis care?

"I'm going to head back to my lab," Joly said dejectedly.

Cosette patted his arm, "Okay, honey. We'll see you later. Good luck with your research."

Joly nodded and shuffled out of Cafe Musain. Oh, well. He didn't need his friends' support, anyways. He was just fine researching on his own.  
__________

The lab was empty by the time Joly got back to it. Everyone else had gone home: it was really late, anyways. All he had to do was file away his research from today, and then he would be on his way home, too. Joly began collecting all of his notes, when he noticed a strange, dim golden light from his peripheral vision. He slowly crept towards his microscope. What was the light coming from? Joly glanced through the lens. The sample of animal tissue he had placed on the stage was emitting a golden glow, which was almost blinding through the lens. Joly frowned, reached his hand to adjust his diopter-

And, suddenly, he was in a large, bleak gray room with the rest of Les Amis. They all looked equally confused. 

"Oh, well," Courfeyrac blurted. With widened eyes, he glanced down at the fluffy, pink, My Little Pony towel wrapped around his waist. "Thank goodness, I was in the middle of a shower."

"Can someone explain what we're all doing in here?" Musichetta asked, arms crossed furiously. "Wherever 'here' is?"

Enjolras peered out the window and shrugged. "Beats me. Everything's all..."

"Clear," Combeferre said. He slowly turned to look at Joly, eyes wide in awe. "Joly, what's clear?"

Joly shrugged. "I don't know. Oxygen? Air? Our atmosphere? Water?"

Combeferre snapped his fingers. "Exactly! Water. And what is 70-90% water?"

"Cytoplasm?" Joly was really confused now. What did cytoplasm have to do with any of this? Wait, he was just at the lab, looking at his cell... "We're in cytoplasm?"

"Yes! Took you long enough!"

"What are we doing in cytoplasm? How did we get in cytoplasm? This is unhygienic, we could die, we could get diseases, we could drown!" Joly cried.

"None of us can answer any of those questions, Joly," Eponine muttered. She sounded annoyed. 

"It appears that we're in a cell," Combeferre said, tapping his chin. He frowned at the view outside the giant, glass window. Joly could see nothing from here. "An animal cell, I think."

"I think it's the cell you were working on," Feuilly said. "You were working on a cell, right?"

"Animal tissue," Joly corrected. "Not just one cell."

"So, we're in animal tissue," Cosette concluded.

Marius looked around, alarmed. "What? Since when? I don't know what's going on."

Courfeyrac lovingly ruffled his hair. "It's okay, Pontmercy, none of us really get any of it."

"Well, can someone get us back to Paris?" Enjolras crossed his arms angrily. He looked like an annoyed, short kitten. "We have a protest next weekend, and I have an essay due tomorrow."

"Oh, just shut up. We'll get out eventually," Combeferre muttered.

Joly glanced out the window, sighing. This was just what he needed: some bonding time in a tiny, microscopic ship inside an animal cell. He noticed something orange in the distance. 

"Hey, guys! I think I see something!" He called out.

Grantaire appeared by his side. He focused his blue eyes on the distant orange object. "Is that... it looks like a nucleus. I think."

"How do you know what a nucleus looks like?" Enjolras asked, dumbfounded. "You're an Art major."

Grantaire rolled his eyes. "Joly showed me pictures once."

"Like, three years ago," Joly said, eyes wide. 

"Well, I have a good memory."

"What are we looking at?" Eponine asked. She frowned. "Oh, just an orange lump."

"It's not an orange lump, Ep, it's a nucleus," Combeferre corrected.

Bahorel tilted his head. "What are those for, again?"

Joly sighed. "Well, the nucleus contains DNA - genetic material, you know. It basically controls the cell. Like a very tiny brain. Inside the nucleus, past the nuclear membrane, is the nucleolus, which produces ribosomes."

"What are ribosomes?" Courfeyrac asked. "It sounds like a type of soda."

"No," Combeferre laughed, shaking his head. "No, ribosomes are small structures made of RNA - ribonucleic acid - that create proteins out of amino acids for the cell."

"Our protein comes from... rye bread?" Bossuet narrowed his eyes, confused. 

"Not rye bread," Combeferre said. "Ribosomes."

"What's ribonucleic and amino acid?" Feuilly asked.

"It's a polymeric molecule essential," Joly explained. "You need it for things like coding, decoding, and genetics. DNA is a type of ribonucleic acid."

"And amino acid is a simple organic compound," Combeferre added. "It contains amino and carboxyl."

Bahorel blinked at them. "That tells us absolutely nothing."

Joly shrugged. "Well, all you need to know is that both ribonucleic and amino acids are essential to cells."

"Right," Eponine drawled. "That's great and all, but how are you planning on getting us out of here?"

"Yeah, for once I agree with Eponine!" Courfeyrac said. "I can't survive in this ship for more than a few days, at the very most. I don't have any of my hair products." 

"Uh, guys," Jehan called out, from where he was standing by the control board. "I think we have a slight problem."

"A problem?" Joly cried, panicked.

Combeferre frowned. "What kind of problem?"

"Well, we're heading into the nucleus," Jehan said.

"WHAT?!" Joly shrieked.

"Shut up, this is a great opportunity," Combeferre said. "You want to research organelles, right? Now's your chance!"

"Will I die, if we go inside the nucleus?" Enjolras asked, clearly concerned.

"I hope so," Grantaire muttered.

Enjolras glared at him. "That's not funny. Or nice."

"Don't worry," Combeferre said. "Going into the nucleus won't kill you. I think. I'm pretty sure."

As they headed into the nucleus, all the Les Amis could hear was Enjolras and Grantaire arguing.

"This is your fault, you know that we're in this bloody cell without food or water," Enjolras foretold.

"Really, this is my fault, all I wanted was to keep this friendship alive, but maybe I shouldn't now!" Grantaire argued back.

At this point, Eponine had enough of the bickering between them. "SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU! THIS IS NEITHER OF YOUR FAULTS, YOU'RE BOTH JUST IDIOTS!" she elaborated.

"Maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore if all we do is fight," Grantaire sighed, refusing to look at Enjolras.

"Maybe we should," Enjolras hissed, still fuming with anger.

Grantaire had enough. He stormed out of the room he was in, Eponine following him closely, glaring at Enjolras while doing so. Enjolras slid down the wall with a sullen look on his face. He frowned down at his hands. Courfeyrac sat down beside him.

"Hey, it's okay," Courfeyrac said, nudging his shoulder with a friendly smile. "You guys fight all the time."

Enjolras sniffed. "That's the problem. We argue, a lot, and I... I don't want it to be like that."

"Neither do I," Joly agreed. "This is going to be horrible if we can't even be civil here." 

"Yeah, I don't know," Enjolras shrugged. "I guess I just..."

"Want more than friendship?" Courfeyrac suggested.

Enjolras' eyes widened. "What? No! Absolutely not! Why would I-? Grantaire? No, no... not at all..."

"You totally want to be his boyfriend," Combeferre interrupted. "Admit it, or I'll leave you in the nucleolus."

"Fine," Enjolras muttered. "Fine, I admit it. I want to be Grantaire's boyfriend. Is that so bad?"

Eponine's head popped up from behind the doorway. She held her hand out. "Twenty bucks, Courf."

Courfeyrac reluctantly handed her his wallet. He defensively held his hands out at Combeferre, who was giving him a weird look.

"What? We bet on when Enjy will admit his feelings, and Ep said that it would be in a weird scenario. I'm pretty sure being stuck in a cell counts."

"Why do you guys always bet on me?" Enjolras asked.

Courfeyrac blinked at him. "Uh, because it's fun?"

Enjolras rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Tell me when Grantaire comes back."

With a sigh, he went over to the window and grumpily stared out at the nuclear membrane around them. Joly walked over to him and patted his arm.

"It'll be okay," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "Grantaire will come around."

"I know," Enjolras replied. "I still hate fighting with him."

"I thought you liked it?" Joly was really confused now.

Enjolras shrugged. "Yeah, but... I'd rather be doing other things, you know? Not always arguing."

Joly nodded. He hadn't intended for this to become a therapy session, but anything would do. A little bonding time never hurt anybody.  
__________

A few hours later, after Combeferre and Joly took meticulous notes about the nucleolus, and Bossuet managed to break one of their controls (the waste disposal button, which Joly hoped they wouldn't need), they arrived at the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulums, near the nucleus.

"Wow, I didn't know that coral exists in cells!" Courfeyrac said excitedly, watching the organelles in awe.

Combeferre stared at him. "That's not coral. Those are the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulums."

"The Enjolras mic retainers?" Courfeyrac asked, nose scrunched up.

"No, the endoplasmic reticulums," Joly corrected. "Or ER for short."

"ER," Courfeyrac repeated. He smiled. "Like Enjy and R. ER. Enjoltaire. Cool, science ships Enj and R!"

"No-" Combeferre began.

"Everyone ships them," Eponine interrupted. "But I think, and this is a wild guess, that this ER isn't connected to the other ER. Just a guess."

"What about ER?" Grantaire asked, approaching the window they were crowded around.

"You ship it," Courfeyrac said, face glued to the glass.

Grantaire sighed. "Yes, continue to make fun of my pathetic crush, sure."

"Actually, we're talking about the endoplasmic reticulums. You know those?" Combeferre asked.

"Oh, sure," Grantaire said. "They synthesize compounds for the cell, right? And they're made of membranes?"

Joly nodded slowly. "Yeah, wow, how do you remember all of that? The last time I told you about cell organelles was-"

"Three years ago, I know," Grantaire tapped his head. "I have a functioning brain. And a good memory, so."

Combeferre crossed his arms. "Do you know which one has ribosomes attached to it?"

"Yeah," Grantaire scoffed. "Easy. The rough ER."

Courfeyrac laughed. "Ha. Rough ER. I could make so many jokes, but I won't."

Combeferre glared at him. They continued looking out at the endoplasmic reticulums, and soon Enjolras awkwardly shuffled up to the window. He cleared his throat.

"Uh, Grantaire?"

Grantaire turned to him with an unimpressed expression. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize," Enjolras said quietly, looking down. "I'm... I'm sorry, for blaming you. And being rude about... I still want us to be friends."

Grantaire nodded. "Okay, so do I."

"So, uh, can we be friends again?"

"Yeah, sure, I can give it another chance."

Enjolras and Grantaire smiled at each other. Combeferre could practically see the hearts in their eyes. Courfeyrac made a gagging noise.

"They're so gross," he whispered. "Adorable, but gross. Totally in love, but-"

"Gross, we get it," Eponine grumbled.

Joly nudged Combeferre. "Part One of Mission: Enjoltaire is complete."  
__________

According to Joly's watch, it was midnight back in Paris. He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"We're going to have sleep shifts," he said, and ignored all the groans he received in response. "Bossuet, Chetta, and I will be up. Eponine, Feuilly, Bahorel, Jehan, Cosette, and Marius will take the first sleep shift. Courf, Enj, R, Ferre, it's up to you guys what you want to do."

"I'll stay up," Combeferre said. "Courf, go to sleep."

"Okay," Courfeyrac said sleepily. He went into the other room.

Grantaire yawned. "I'm gonna sleep, too. Enj, you coming?"

"Uh," Enjolras paused. "Sure. Some sleep can't hurt."

Combeferre snorted. "I have never heard you agree to sleep before. Who are you, and what have you done with the real Enjolras?"

Enjolras glared at Combeferre. "Not funny. I'm allowed to want sleep. I'm only human."

"Oh, sure," Grantaire drawled. "Apollo's human."

"Stop calling me that," Enjolras muttered.

He stormed out to the second room in the ship, following Bahorel, Feuilly, Jehan, Eponine, Cosette, and Marius. Grantaire shook his head and sighed fondly as he followed him. Joly closed the door after them and then returned to the window.

"Is that the Golgi apparatus?" Combeferre asked, peering outside.

Joly nodded enthusiastically. "Cool, right? It looks like a bunch of pancakes!"

"I make better pancakes than that," Musichetta sniffed, eyeing it. "Mine are buttermilk, and this looks like... stuff."

"It's not even pancakes," Bossuet corrected. "Joly said it looks like pancakes, but it's not. What is it?"

"The Golgi apparatus," Joly said.

"Also called the Golgi body," Combeferre added.

Musichetta tilted her head. "What does it do?"

"Well, firstly, all that pancake-like stuff is membrane," Joly explained. "The apparatus itself is used to pack and modify proteins for the cell to use."

"I don't get it," Musichetta said, frowning. "It packs stuff?"

"Think about like this: the proteins are raw meat. The Golgi apparatus turns the proteins into things the cell can use, like how we can only eat meat if it's cooked. Get it?"

Musichetta nodded, smiling. "Now I do. I'm a chef, after all."  
__________

The next morning (ten, according to Joly's watch), after they had gone through two sleep shifts, they were all awake and eating the nutritious protein bars that had magically appeared overnight. Enjolras and Grantaire seemed to be on better terms - Joly even noticed them chatting over 'breakfast'. It made him happy.

"I think they secretly got together," Courfeyrac said, plopping down beside him with a box of oatmeal and peach flavoured protein bars. "Want one?"

"Uh, no, I'm good, thanks," Joly looked at the bars in disgust. He was just fine with his: vanilla bean. "You think they did? Really? Enjolras is incapable of keeping secrets."

Courfeyrac shrugged. "Yeah, but... look at them, Joly. They're so disgustingly in love. They probably pretended that the cytoplasm was the stars, and like, confessed their eternal and undying love for each other with it as the background. They held hands, and looked into each other's eyes, and then-"

"Could you guys shut up?" Enjolras snapped. "We're trying to have a decent argument over here."

"About whether dogs or cats are better," Grantaire sighed. "I vote cats."

"I vote cats, too," Enjolras frowned. "Why are we even having this argument? We're both cat people."

Grantaire affectionately ruffled his hair. "Because fighting is fun with you."

Enjolras blushed. "Thanks."

"Totally," Courfeyrac said. "Definitely in love. They're so gross. Ew. They're literally Trademarked Boyfriends."

Joly walked over to them and crossed his arms. He had enough of Courfeyrac, and he also wanted to know if something happened and they didn't tell him.

"Are you two dating?" He asked.

Grantaire stared at him. "What? No? Why would you think that?" His voice was a pitch higher.

"I have proof!" Combeferre called out. "I saw you two snuggling last night."

"In my defense, Grantaire makes an amazing pillow," Enjolras muttered.

Joly's jaw dropped. "So you did get together! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Say what?" Eponine asked. She shrugged. "Oh, I already knew that. They've been inseparable since Enjolras decided to blurt out his feelings."

Cosette nodded. "True, I barely got any sleep."

Enjolras smiled smugly and leaned in closer to Grantaire. "What can I say?"

"That you love me," Grantaire sounded affronted. "Obviously. Because you do. You said so fifteen trillion times last night."

"Fun fact, we have 32 trillion nuclei in our bodies!" Joly said excitedly.

"Wow, so interesting," Eponine said dryly.

Combeferre pointed at something outside the window. "Can we please move on from the Enjolras and Grantaire Love Show and focus on that weird thing outside? I think it's a lysosome, but I'm not sure."

"I think it is," Joly said, squinting outside. "Yes, it is. Sweet!"

He pulled out his notebook and began detailing how it looked.

"What's a lysosome?" Feuilly asked.

"It's a digestive structure," Combeferre explained. "It breaks down waste and other materials."

"So... let me get this straight," Courfeyrac said slowly. "Lysosomes make cell poo?"

Combeferre blinked at him. "Uh... not exactly. But okay. Call it cell poo."

“You know," Joly said, smiling widely. "This isn't so bad. We should do it again."

Everyone glared at him, except for Enjolras and Grantaire, who were too busy staring at each other's eyes to notice anything.  
__________

They got lost, drifting in the seemingly-endless cytoplasm, after they steered away from the lysosome. It had been two hours, and they were all gathered in the main room, sitting in awkward silence. Joly had a brilliant idea.

"Cells, cells, they're made of organelles," he began quietly. "Try to pull a fast one, the cytoplasm gels."

"The nucleus takes over, controlling everything," Bossuet joined in, drumming out the beat. "The party don't stop till the membrane blocks the scene."

Grantaire laughed quietly, but he started singing as well. "Inside the vacuole, we can float around for hours. Running round with chloroplasts, loving sunlight showers."

"Cells, cells, they're made of organelles," by now, almost everyone was singing along: except for Eponine, who gave them a grumpy face, and Enjolras, who had no idea what was going on.

"First things first, there's two different types," they sang. "Animal and plant cells, that make up all life."

Joly tapped his foot to the rhythm. "The little things that make up microscopic cells: the main structures - yeah, we call them organelles."

Enjolras still looked really confused, even as he tried to sing with them all. "Now let's break it down and get some information - how do cells work? It's a crazy combination!"

"Cells, cells, they're made of organelles. Try to pull a fast one, the cytoplasm-" They chorused.

"Wait!" Enjolras interrupted. "Wait, someone teach me the lyrics."

Grantaire sighed. "You ruined it, Enj. Now we lost our dynamic."

"Sorry," Enjolras said. He pressed a kiss to Grantaire's hand and smiled. "Well, we could always sing it again."

"Nah," Joly said. "Once was good, for now. It was just really awkward in here."

"What's that?" Courfeyrac asked, glancing outside the window.

"A mitochondrion!" Combeferre announced excitedly.

He and Joly rushed to the window. Their eyes widened in awe as they saw the mitochondrion.

"A what?" Jehan asked, confused. "I thought it was called a mitochondria?"

"That's plural," Joly explained. "Mitochondrion is singular."

Cosette looked outside. "Don't they make energy, or something?"

Combeferre nodded. "Well, a mitochondrion converts oxygen and nutrients into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. That's basically energy."

"Did you know that animals produce 15 times more ATP with mitochondria than without?" Joly gushed.

"Wow," Combeferre said dryly. "All animals have mitochondria."

"It's theoretical," Joly retorted.

"It looks weird," Eponine said. "What's in it?"

"Cristae, which is the folded membrane inside. The cristae contain all the necessary compounds for aerobic respiration, which is how the cell gets oxygen. And then there's the outer membrane, and that has channels that are formed by protein porin, and it filters out molecules that are too big," Joly rambled. "And they're flexible, too."

"What's in the cristae?" Bahorel asked.

"A fluid called matrix," Combeferre replied.

Courfeyrac gasped. "Matrix confirmed!"

"Not the movie," Eponine grumbled.

"Whatever," Courfeyrac pouted. "Let me have my fun."  
__________

"How long have we been in the cell?" Bossuet asked, yawning.

Combeferre ran a hand through his hair. "Two days."

"I had an essay due," Enjolras sniffed.

"You'll be fine," Grantaire reassured him, smiling gently. "Your professor will understand."

Enjolras blinked at him. "Uh, no, no he won't. We're in a cell. Statistically, that's not likely to happen. Unless you count The Magic School Bus episodes, and Inner Space."

"That's true."

"Hey, guys! We're at the cell membrane!" Joly called out.

Les Amis immediately ran up to the giant window to see. They all stared at it in awe, faces glued to the glass.

"It's made of a lipid bilayer," Combeferre said. "And that's a double layer of fatty acids that have a hydrophobic interior and a hydrophilic exterior. The membrane keeps things in and out of the cell."

"So, to get out, we have to pass through this cell wall thing?" Courfeyrac asked.

Joly shook his head. "Firstly, animal cells don't have cell walls. Only plant cells do, to keep their rigid structure. Secondly, we didn't need to get in the membrane to get here, so hopefully we'll just magically get out."

"I'm so sick of all of you, I think I'll just throw you into the membrane and see what happens," Eponine grumbled.

"We'd die," Combeferre said slowly, eyes narrowed.

Eponine smiled widely. "All the better."

"Rude, I'm your best friend," Grantaire retorted.

Eponine nudged him. "I'd spare you, idiot. I need someone to do all my adult stuff."

"Thanks," Grantaire huffed. "I feel the love."

"Well, we could try," Combeferre suggested. "If we went at maximum velocity, we might be able to get out."

"That's crazy," Joly said.

Combeferre stared at him over the edge of his glasses. "Joly. This whole thing is crazy. We all magically appeared inside a cell, for who-knows-what reason. I'm pretty sure that trying something out won't hurt."

"Fine," Joly sighed. "I guess we can try it."

"Wait!" Cosette exclaimed. "I think I know why we're all here: to learn to appreciate Joly's work. We all disrespected him, besides me, at the Musain, right? So that's why we're here! To respect his work!"

"Yeah, you guys were all rude," Joly agreed. "But, no offense."

"Let's just try and get out of here," Combeferre said.

With a reassuring nod, he went behind the controls and turned up the ship's engine power. It began to accelerate towards the membrane. Joly fearfully clutched the nearest surface, eyes wide. He watched the approaching cell membrane intensely. As the speed increased, he felt more pressure, and the cytoplasm seemed to flash by the ship in less than a second. They broke through the membrane-

And appeared in an identical setting. The ship slowed down. Combeferre shrugged from behind the controls.

"Are we back?" Courfeyrac asked, dazed.

"It appears not," Combeferre sighed. "We just ended up in another cell.”

Everyone groaned.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!! <3  
> Come say hi on tumblr, I'm epo-nine!!!
> 
> (also, that cell song Joly started singing is real. Search it up on YouTube)


End file.
